Another night had finally ended. The sun began to poke through the trees, and the dew from the rain of the past day glistened in the brilliant beams of morning's light. Lion awoke first and stalked off into a nearby thicket to find some breakfast for himself and Dorothy, who remained asleep in the lap of the strawman.
Fiyero had spent most of the night stroking Dorothy's hair. By holding her close to him, he somehow felt that he could keep away the nightmares. Just as he was considering this, Boq commented quietly,
"Dorothy didn't stir much last night."
"You were a real comfort to her when she couldn't sleep, Tin Man."
"Not as much as you, Boq replied, a bit coldly. She favors you."
"Well, I was the first friend she made in Oz. I don't think she favors me over you or Lion, we=ve just been together longer."
There was a period of silence. The tin Boq rose from where he was sitting and said,
"We should be out of the forest by the afternoon. I'll be glad to put it behind us."
When Dorothy awoke, she claimed to feel more rested than ever before. Lion returned shortly with a dead deer, and while he enjoyed his meat raw, the girl built the fire back up and cooked herself a delicious meal that would last her and the dog the whole day.
While Dorothy, Lion, and Tin Man chatted over breakfast (though of course, the tin Boq couldn't eat) Fiyero snuck off into a deeper part of the forest where the trees grew closer together. If she hadn't been wearing black, Elphaba could have blended right in to the green surroundings.
"It's going to be harder for me to follow you once you leave the forest. she said. AWe probably won't get many opportunities to talk. Has the girl recovered completely from my spell?"
"Yes, she doesn't recall a thing about what happened." he replied. "And she slept soundly last night for the first time since I've met her."
"Well that was not my doing. I merely made sure that we wouldn't be discovered. I do wish you'd stop involving others though. On top of Boq, now you're traveling with a Lion?"
"Dorothy doesn't seem to be the type to turn people away. He stumbled into our company, but he is a decent traveling companion. He protects us from other beasts, and he's a comfort to the girl."
Dorothy began to call out for Fiyero to come back.
"It sounds like your party is leaving."
"I love you, Elphaba."
At this she smiled wearily.
"And I you. But do me a favor, won't you? Please protect the silver shoes! I've lifted the spell that bound them to her feet. I know my magic is connected to them, but no matter how hard I try, I can't summon them."
"I'll do my best."
The strawman kissed Elphaba's hand and ran back to his friends.
They reached the end of the forest at last, and just as Boq had predicted, the sun was right over their heads. Having half a day left, Tin Man suggested that they veer from the road of yellow bricks for a time and take a shortcut through a field. He declared that they would make excellent time by cutting through the flowery field and picking up the road on the other side. Dorothy was thrilled by all of the magnificently colored flowers, and Toto immediately ran ahead to play merrily amongst them.
"Isn't it marvelous to be in the full sunshine again my friends?" Dorothy said jubilantly. "That forest was so dull and dreary."
"I quite disagree," the Lion protested. "The shade of the forest is a comfort to me. All of this open space and sunlight afford us no protection at all."
"Well that's what I'm here for!" declared Boq bravely.
Dorothy chuckled and ran to play with her dog.
"I had better go ahead with Dorothy," the Lion said to his companions. "Just in case trouble should find her."
"Oh sure," the tin Boq smiled. "Because running amongst all of these flowers and having a little fun doesn't entice you at all, eh my friend?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." the Lion said with a wink.
He ran ahead merrily, prancing and taking in the scent of the magnificent flowers, to the amusement of the Tin Man and Fiyero. They walked behind and laughed at the folly of their friends. After a time, the green grass disappeared all together as the flowers dominated the ground. And not long after that, the flowers, which had at one time varied in color and type, became a solid carpet of blood-red poppies.
"That's odd, isn't it Scarecrow? To have so many poppies all together at once like this?" asked the tin Boq.
They looked at each other, concern etched into both of their features, for they knew what affect such an overwhelming number of poppies could have on their fleshy companions. Though they could not inhale the fatal scent due to their lack of humanity, Dorothy and the Lion could be in grave danger.
"Do you see them anywhere Tin Man?" said the strawman in a mounting panic, looking around desperately for their friends.
"Oh dear!" was the reply as they both took off running.
Having gone up a hill, they saw the Lion and the girl, but Toto could not be seen. No doubt he had fallen somewhere amongst the flowers fast asleep. And though their friends were still walking, they were slow and appeared to be exhausted.
The Lion turned to them and said,
"It's the flowers, my friends. Toto has fallen!"
At this the beast closed his eyes, but quickly shook himself awake.
"Listen Lion," said Fiyero, knowing that they didn't have much time. "Run ahead with all of your might! We'll bring Dorothy with us, but if you should fall asleep we would not be able to carry you out."
"I'll do my best!" the Lion said, and with a great spring, he took off running.
Dorothy was still walking up ahead, half-asleep.
"Would you mind finding Toto?" asked Fiyero. I'll go and help Dorothy."
Boq nodded his head, shouldered his axe, and carefully started to examine the ground for the little black dog.
As the straw Fiyero approached her, Dorothy fell to her knees in utter exhaustion. He kneeled at her side and supported her, for the girl was ready to fall to the ground.
"Come on Dorothy, we have to get you out of here before you inhale too much of this poision."
"But Scarecrow," she whispered with a slur. "The flowers smell like sweet...sweet...nothing."
At this her eyes closed and, though the Scarecrow had a hand on her back to steady her, Dorothy's head fell back as sleep overwhelmed her. He called for the Tin Man as loud as his straw body would allow, and laid Dorothy gently on the ground amongst the flowers.
"Where are you, Scarecrow?" the tin Boq asked, coming back over the hill with the little dog in his arms.
"Oh good," the strawman sighed. "You found Toto!"
"We'll have to carry Dorothy out of here," Boq said with a look of panic upon his tin face. "If she breathes too much of it in, we may never be able to wake her again. I'll carry Dorothy, you take my axe and Toto."
Surprised by the authoritative tone in the Tin Man's voice, Fiyero simply nodded and took the sleeping dog in his arms. In his other hand he held the axe and watched enviously as the tin Boq took Dorothy in his arms. Her eyes were slightly open and the eyeballs themselves had rolled back in her head. She needed to get away from these flowers, and fast!
The trouble was that her conscious companions didn't know just how long it would take them to finally reach the end of the field of poppies. While they walked, Boq kept saying, almost as if to reassure himself, that she was going to be just fine. After twenty minutes of walking in the direction that the Lion had gone, they came upon him sprawled upon the first patch of pure grass.
Tin Man gently laid Dorothy next to the Lion so that she could breathe the purer air and recover. Several hours passed by and neither the beast nor the girl stirred at all.
'Why aren't they awake yet?" the tin Boq asked anxiously.
"It will probably take a while for the poison to leave their systems," Fiyero replied. "They'll wake up soon. But I think we can both agree to stick to the road from now on."
At this, the tin Boq began to sob. The strawman stood stunned for a moment, and then approached his fellow traveler cautiously.
"What's wrong?"
"This is my fault! If I hadn't suggested we take a shortcut..."
"We all agreed it was for the best."
Boq attempted to reply, but his jaw had rusted shut from his tears. He began to gesture wildly toward Dorothy, who kept in her basket the oil can that they had come upon back at the cottage. The Scarecrow quickly retrieved it and, finding the situation laughable, oiled the jaw of his old school chum without comment.
As he did this, the straw Fiyero pondered their current condition. If only he could tell Boq who he was...if only they had known it would come to this...
With a snarl, the Lion stirred. His eyes fluttered open, he stretched in a feline manner, and then he rose from his spot on the grass. He gasped audibly at the sight of Dorothy laying motionless.
"Did the flowers conquer her?"
"No," Fiyero said calmly, though he felt anything but. "She'll probably awaken soon."
"Do you think this was the doing of the Wicked Witch of the West?" the Lion asked, a shake in his voice.
"That could be!" replied the Tin Man. "Perhaps our poor judgment was a result of a spell."
"Yes! That must be it!" said the Lion enthusiastically.
"Or perhaps we made a mistake!" declared the strawman, losing his patience. "Maybe we should take responsibility for the fact that we put our lives at risk because we tried to take the easy way. Maybe we were just wrong."
His companions stood awe-struck. He was tired of listening to the Ozian Afind a good enemy excuse. There was no excuse for their blunder. Their friends were in danger because of their own lazy mistake, and there was no getting around it. Tin Man and Lion looked at each other stunned, yet silent. They had nothing to say for themselves.
"At any rate," the Tin Man said, trying to brighten the serious mood. "We should probably find a place to rest for the night. I don't think we should try to push on any further today. We'll pick up the road in the morning."
The straw Fiyero nodded in silence, still angry that Boq and the Lion were so ready to blame an invisible force for their own mistake, when Dorothy finally began to stir.
The three travelers stood over the girl as she opened her eyes, relieved that she was conscious at last. She sat up very quickly, clearly confused, and then took her head in her hands, groaning.
"What happened?"
"The aroma of the poppies overwhelmed you," Fiyero explained. "We're going to rest for the remainder of the day, so relax."
The group moved further away from the poppies and set up camp by a large tree. The sun was setting in the west by the time they all sat down together.
"Did anything exciting happen while we were asleep?" Dorothy asked.
"Not really," replied the Tin Boq. "We were too busy worrying."
"I had the most marvelous dreams," said the Lion.
"What did you dream of?" Boq asked. He had a longing in his voice, and Fiyero supposed that it would be nice to be able to dream again.
"I dreamed that the Wizard gave me the courage I lack and I became the king of beasts again."
"That sounds like a lovely dream." Dorothy sighed.
The strawman scoffed.
"Did you dream of anything, Dorothy?" asked the man of tin.
"I did actually. I had a dream about the witch."
Boq and the Lion both gasped in unison, while the straw Fiyero listened more intently.
"What about the witch?" he asked.
"Well, you may find this strange, but she was crying. She was sad about her sister."
"Nessa," Boq said under his breath. Only Fiyero heard him and they locked gazes for a moment. He then looked back down at the ground, tears in his eyes.
"There was a very handsome man with her, trying to console her."
"The witch can't cry, Dorothy. She's allergic to water."
At this Dorothy laughed heartily.
"That can't possibly be true!"
"It doesn't seem like it is true, Dorothy," Fiyero chimed in. "People in Oz just like to gossip, it seems."
There was a moment of noticeably uncomfortable silence.
"At any rate," said Dorothy. "I really do wish that I could apologize to the poor creature. I have no siblings, but I can't begin to imagine the pain I would feel if someone's house fell on auntie Em."
At this, the Tin Man shouldered his axe. The light of day was fading, but Fiyero could see the tears in his eyes. Maybe he did feel for Nessarose after all. Or maybe this was all that remained of his fear of her.
"I'm going to go look for firewood." he said.
"Please be careful!" Dorothy called after him.
"I too will go walk a bit," said the Lion. "I grow weary of being so still."
"Don't stray too far, please." Dorothy warned. The Lion touched his forehead to hers affectionately and said,
"I'll be back soon, Dorothy dear."
Dorothy smiled brightly at their furry friend as he walked away.
"I hope tomorrow will bring us less trouble," Fiyero said. "If the Tin Man had had a heart, it surely would have stopped at the sight of you unconscious in the poppy field."
"Oh dear," Dorothy replied. "I didn't mean to cause you worry! But when I saw all those beautiful flowers, I couldn't resist the urge to be amongst them."
The strawman laughed. The girl followed suit. Before they knew it, their laughter was out of control! The dog barked his approval. Dorothy threw herself on the ground and inhaled the fresh grass. Fiyero couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard.
This night, the air was warm and still, and fireflies danced in the space around them.
After some silence, Dorothy said something that truly surprised the straw Fiyero.
"I wonder what it's like to be in love," she said.
"What made you think of that?"
"When I was at home, I often sat outdoors on nights like this with auntie Em and uncle Henry. They're quite old now, but even at their current age, uncle Henry looks at her with such tenderness. I know I'm quite young, but I often wonder what sort of power binds two people like that."
"Love is a very powerful magic, Dorothy." the Scarecrow replied.
"I suppose you're right." she said with a yawn as her eyes began to flutter shut. "For one with no brain, you certainly are wise."
And with that she slept.
Within moments of this exchange, Elphaba appeared quite suddenly from the field of poppies, completely unharmed by the toxic flowers. She sat beside her strawman, and waved her hand slowly in front of Dorothy.
"She can't hear a thing now." the green girl said.
"Your magic is getting stronger every day!" Fiyero said as he kissed her hand softly. "Is this safe? Being out in the open like this?"
"I'm keeping an eye on your companions." was the reply. "I am worried, my dearest. Things in the Emerald City are worse than ever. There is corruption everywhere in Oz!"
"Have you considered what I said before? That we might leave Oz and make a new life?"
"Yes. I have given that idea much thought."
Elphaba faltered at this and looked away.
"Why would you want to stay in a world that has rejected you?"
"It's everything I know! It's where my family lived their lives. And what about Glinda? How could we just leave her?"
"Have you forgiven her?"
"Not completely. I know that she's only a pawn, but she isn't as brainless as she pretends to be. She just can't resist the glory of it all."
"One day you'll have to make peace with her."
"Glinda is the least of our worries, Fiyero! You're involved with this group now, and I feel responsible for their safety. Leading them to the Emerald City now would be like walking them in front of a firing squad."
"So you've come around, have you?"
"Don't get carried away!" she said in a cold tone of voice. "You got involved with the girl, the girl got everyone else involved, and now we're obligated to protect them. I didn't ask for this."
Elphaba stared longingly at the silver shoes upon Dorothy's feet.
"I wanted so badly to make Nessa happy."
Fiyero and Elphaba embraced.
"You did all you could." he said in an attempt to console her.
"I know."
Distant voices confirmed that the Lion and Boq had found one another and were coming back to their campsite. Elphaba kissed Fiyero deeply, and vanished before his very eyes. He found himself astounded by her amazing progress. She was not the shy young outcast he had once known. She was the clever woman he always knew she could be.
Thank you everyone for being so patient! I hope you enjoyed it. More will follow soon!